


The Sides of a Haunting

by anxious_logic



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Background Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Background Deceit | Janus Sanders, M/M, all 2800 words of it, nico finds out about the sides thats it thats the whole fic, spoilers for flirting with social anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26964034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxious_logic/pseuds/anxious_logic
Summary: Nico’s pretty sure Thomas is haunted. Weird things keep happening around him - things that can’t be explained in this realm of existence. But does Nico really want to deal with another existential crisis?(Spoilers for Flirting With Social Anxiety.)
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil & Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton & Thomas Sanders, Thomas Sanders/Nico Flores
Comments: 29
Kudos: 324





	The Sides of a Haunting

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by that one post on tumblr that’s like “hey what if Nico thinks Thomas is haunted but it’s actually just the sides”
> 
> Warnings: Ghost mention, haunting mention, tiny bit of Virgil swearing, Janus and Remus aren’t necessarily unsympathetic but they’re not completely sympathetic either (they’re just hanging out)

Something was going on with Thomas.

The first time Nico had come over to Thomas’s house, he’d noticed a few weird things; Thomas kept whispering to himself (what Nico could hear sounded like one side of a conversation) and he would look at something, blink, and then it’d move. Originally, he’d just put it down to nervousness; both of them were tense at the situation, so his mind must have been playing tricks on him.

But then as they had gotten to know each other better and spending more time together, he’d noticed more… weird things.

He’d see some items float in front of him for a minute, before Thomas would hiss something, and then the floating thing would either drop suddenly or vanish altogether. Nico would knock on Thomas’s bathroom door because he’d been in there for a long time, and he would hear Thomas shushing somebody.

Then there would be the times when Thomas’s hair or clothes would move, when they were inside without any significant air flow. His hair would ruffle itself, sometimes, or his shirt would straighten. Sometimes his collar would turn the right way out, or his pants would even out.

Even weirder, he’d occasionally see something out of the corner of his eye. A flash of purple, usually, although sometimes it was red. Once he’d seen light blue, and then yellow right after that.

And then there were the reflections.

He’d be walking with Thomas outside, and he’d notice their reflection in one of the windows of the shops. Except it wasn’t just him and Thomas – there were other people, too, who looked almost identical to Thomas except for very small differences. But then he’d look again, and they’d disappear. It happened in mirrors, windows, he even could have sworn he saw something in his phone camera once.

And then!

There were six people that Thomas kept mentioning – Virgil, Roman, Patton, Logan, Janus, and Remus. He barely mentioned Janus, and Remus even less than that, but he’d say something about how “Patton said” this, and “Logan would say” that, and “Virgil would love” something that Nico had said, and “Roman thinks” Disney is the ultimate franchise.

The thing was… he mentioned them almost more than he mentioned some of his other friends, and Nico had never met them. Thomas hadn’t mentioned anything about them living far away; there had been no FaceTimes that Nico was aware of; and yet, Thomas would bring up something that one of them had said “yesterday” or “last week” or even “earlier today”.

So, yeah, something was going on.

If he didn’t know better, he’d say that Thomas was… haunted, maybe. Except that Thomas seemed to be very familiar with these… _ghosts,_ for lack of a better term; from what Nico could figure, when Thomas was in the bathroom, he was talking to them. He didn’t sound scared (at least not most of the time).

So yeah, Nico was confused. And he wasn’t sure if he… wanted to bring this up with Thomas. It would be nice, sure, to know what was going on with him, but he didn’t want to deal with an existential crisis if the explanation was something… otherworldly.

Sue him, he’d had an existential crisis when he figured out he was gay. One was enough to tide him over until he was _at least_ fifty.

Nico rocked back and forth on his feet as he waited for Thomas to open the door. They were going to hang out for a bit today – Nico had suggested going on a picnic, but Thomas said he wasn’t sure if he was up for a more formal outing, so they might just be staying in and watching movies together.

Suddenly, he heard voices from inside. He perked up, absentmindedly checking that his hair and clothes were in order.

“We’re going to scare him away,” Nico heard, muffled through the door. The voice was deep and forceful.

“No we won’t, kiddo!” another voice said. This one was lighter, more bubbly.

“We can’t continue leading him on,” a loud voice added. Well, louder than the rest of them.

“Falsehood.”

Nico was surprised by how close this voice was. He stepped back from where his ear was pressed up to the door, whirling his arms to try to avoid falling down the steps.

It didn’t work.

The voices inside the house went silent as Nico crashed down the steps, rattling the railing on the steps and groaning as he hit the bottom. There was a second when everything went quiet, and then someone opened the door.

Even though he looked identical to Thomas, something about him just felt… _different._ He was wearing glasses, for one thing, which Nico had never seen before. He was wearing a black polo shirt, and a blue necktie (which… well, Nico was pretty sure Thomas would only put on a necktie if there was a reason, and a date with him was _not_ something that would fall under that category).

“Are you injured?” the stranger asked. Nico blinked as his brain short-circuited as another person appeared behind the stranger. This one was also identical to Thomas and also wearing glasses, but had on a light blue polo and a gray cardigan tied around his shoulders.

“Oh, kiddo, are you okay? Is anything broken?”

Nico shook his head slowly, propping himself up on his forearms. “…Nothing’s broken, no.”

The man in the tie nodded. “Optimal. Thomas?”

Then Thomas pushed past the two men in the doorway, his face panicked. He ran down the front steps, crouching in front of Nico.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” he asked, his hands fluttering over Nico.

“I’m fine,” Nico said. He could feel a soft smile spreading across his face – they’d been dating for three whole months, and he still couldn’t help turning into a smitten preteen around Thomas.

“Here,” Thomas said, offering a hand to help Nico up. Nico took it, lacing his fingers with Thomas’s when they stood up.

He was interrupted by a squealing noise coming from the doorway. Another man was standing there, this time without glasses. He was wearing a white jacket with gold braiding, with a red sash laying diagonally across his chest. He was the source of the noise, and was bouncing up and down and flapping his hands.

Thomas’s eyes widened, and he gave panicked glances to Nico and the men in the doorway. “Um,” he said. His breathing increased.

“Fuck,” came from the doorway. Nico looked up to see a man in an oversized hoodie and black eyeshadow under his eyes breathing quickly, his hands shaking.

Sweater turned around to face Eyeshadow. “Oh, c’mon kiddo, it’ll be okay,” he said. “Let’s all go inside, and get this figured out, okay?” He hustled Tie, Sash, and Eyeshadow inside. “We’ll be inside when you’re ready, okay Thomas?” he called behind him.

“…Okay,” Thomas said, his voice quiet. He was staring at the sidewalk, his free hand fidgeting with the material of his pants.

“You wanna introduce me to those people?” Nico asked, squeezing Thomas’s hand. He tried to make the question not too accusatory or nosey – just… an opening, if Thomas wanted.

Thomas blew out a breath, nodding to himself once. “Sure,” he said. He seemed to be steeling himself, or planning something.

He walked Nico up the steps, opening the door for him. Nico stepped in, putting his bag down next to the door. As he turned around, he was surprised to see the four people standing in Thomas’s living room.

Tie was standing just a few feet away from where Nico was right now, his hands clasped behind him. Sweater was standing in front of the back window, his hands on his hips. Sash was in front of the TV, his arms crossed and a pouty look on his face. Nico could barely see another person – Eyeshadow, maybe? – sitting on the stairs, sprawled out.

Thomas gently tugged Nico to the couch, where they sat down. The other four men looked at Thomas attentively.

“How would you like to approach this, Thomas?” Tie asked expectantly. Sash rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

“Just- let me handle it, for now,” Thomas said, taking a shaky breath. He closed his eyes, then shifted to face Nico, holding both of his hands.

“So… Nico…” he started, his voice hesitant. Nico nodded encouragingly. “So, this is kinda weird. But… this is Patton,” Sweater waved, “Roman,” Sash bowed to Nico, “Virgil,” Eyeshadow gave a two-fingered salute, “and Logan,” Tie gave a polite nod. “They’re… aspects of my personality. That I can manifest. Into people. That can affect the real world.”

Nico blinked, thinking about it. He looked up at the other four people. Sweater – Patton – had a… hopeful look on his face. Roman looked like he was preparing for ultimate failure, and Virgil had a look in his eyes like he was ready to run. Logan was simply staring at Nico, his face impassive.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Aspects of your personality – who’s what, then?”

All of the others immediately brightened – although Nico noticed that Logan seemed to tamp down his excitement quickly, returning to a neutral expression.

“I’m Thomas’s Morality!” Patton exclaimed happily. “I help him figure out what’s right and wrong, I tell dad jokes, and I try to keep the spirits up!”

“I’m his Creativity,” Roman said, then paused. A strange expression crossed his face, before he shook his head quickly and continued. “I help Thomas think of video ideas and help him with his parts in acting productions. I’m also a… manifestation of the ego, and am a part of his romantic feelings-”

“I’m his Anxiety,” Virgil interrupted. “’Nuff said.”

Logan adjusted his tie. “I am a manifestation of his Logic,” he said. “I am in possession of a majority of his knowledge, as well as the one in charge of monitoring his diet, water intake, and sleep schedule.”

Nico nodded at the introductions, mentally taking notes on all of them. Then he remembered.

“Oh – I remember, you talked about… Janus? And Remus? Are they… the same thing? Or, um. Types of people? I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s offensive.”

Thomas gave a little smile, then sighed. “Uh… yeah. I don’t… really… talk to them as much as these four, but yeah.”

“Would you like to meet them?” Logan asked.

“Why?!” Roman exclaimed. “It doesn’t- If Thomas doesn’t talk to them much, then why should Nico meet them…?” He trailed off as Logan raised his eyebrows at him.

“They are parts of Thomas, and Nico wants to know Thomas better. Is that correct?” Logan turned to Nico for confirmation.

“Yeah, I’d say that,” Nico said slowly.

“Perfect. Therefore, it makes the most sense that Nico meets Janus and Remus now, rather than putting it off.”

Thomas bit his lip. “Okay, I think- I think I’m going to say that Janus is my Deceit, he’s in charge of… basically, when I lie and what I do to lie? And Remus is… the other side of Creativity. He has… the thoughts I don’t like to think about. And the creative things that I just… generally don’t like.”

Nico nodded, squeezing Thomas’s hand sympathetically. “Okay,” he said. “I mean- you don’t have to introduce me, if you don’t want, but I’d love to if you’re open to it.”

Thomas took a deep breath, and nodded. He gestured with his hand twice, once towards Roman and once towards Logan. A person suddenly appeared next to each of them. Roman’s neighbor was dressed in a sparkly black shirt with a green sash – almost the exact opposite of Roman’s outfit. Logan’s was dressed in a dramatic overcoat and a half-cape, with yellow gloves and a hat.

“This is Remus,” Thomas introduced, wincing as he gestured at Roman’s partner, “and this is Janus.” He gestured at the dramatic-looking man next to Logan.

“Hello,” Janus said smoothly. “It is… _wonderful_ to meet Thomas’s new… infatuation.”

Nico frowned a little bit, but Roman jumped in before he could think about that sentence too hard. “He is _not_ an infatuation! He is Thomas’s wonderful, incredible, talented boyfriend, and we-”

Roman cut himself off, looking at Thomas. They were both blushing immensely.

“We care for him very much,” he concluded, looking down and away from everyone else. It seemed like there was more that he wanted to say, but he didn’t continue.

“I certainly care for him _one_ way…” Remus put in, wiggling his eyebrows and shimmying his shoulders. Nico saw Virgil wince, and Roman gave Remus an offended look.

“As much fun as this was, Thomas, Remus and I have… things to go back to,” Janus said suddenly. He sunk into the floor to disappear, allowing Logan to step back into his place.

“I’ll see you later tonight, Thomas!” Remus giggled, wiggling his fingers at Thomas before sinking down as well.

Thomas winced. “Well, that was… an experience,” he said. He looked up nervously to meet Nico’s eyes. “Are you… okay…? With this?”

Nico nodded. “Of course,” he said. “I can’t say I… completely understand it, yet. But I’m not going to… break up with you, or something, over this.”

Virgil let out a deep breath from his spot on the stairs, surprising Nico a little bit. “Okay, now that that’s been determined, I’m going to go back to my room. Bye.” He sunk through the stairs and disappeared, leaving Nico blinking at the place he had been sitting.

“Sorry about that, kiddo,” Patton said, drawing Nico’s attention. “He’s a little… high-strung, sometimes – not that that’s a bad thing! – so he needs some… relaxing time, sometimes.”

Nico gave Patton a tiny smile. “I understand,” he said.

“I am going to check up on Virgil,” Logan announced. “Thomas, I hope this has helped your inner dilemma. Roman, I will talk to you in,” he checked his watch, “three hours and twenty-seven minutes.”

He sunk out as well, leaving Nico and Thomas with only Roman and Patton.

“I… very much enjoyed the chance to meet you,” Roman said, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. “I am going to prepare for my meeting with Logan now.”

“Bye,” Nico said, giving Roman a tiny wave.

“Sounds good,” Thomas said, giving Roman a smile.

Roman went away as the others had, his hands positioned dramatically.

“It was really nice to meet you in person, kiddo,” Patton said, looking towards Nico. “I liked seeing you hang out with Thomas when I was invisible, but it’s not quite the same, is it? Anyway, I’m going to leave you two alone, and let you talk for a little bit. See you later!”

Nico blinked rapidly as Patton sunk down, processing what he said.

“Wait,” he said, meeting Thomas’s eyes. “Were they- following us? On our dates?”

Thomas rubbed the back of his neck (just like Roman had, Nico noticed). “Um… yeah, I don’t… I don’t know what to say. They like to come out and see things in their body instead of just… in my head, I guess?” He laughed uncomfortably. “They’d… follow behind, sometimes. Give me… advice, on what to do.”

Nico leaned forward, intrigued. “Did you… follow it?”

Thomas tilted his head back and forth. “That… depends on the situation and who was out. Roman? Usually not. Logan? Usually yes, unless it was… very directly asking you to copulate with me, in which case I didn’t.”

Nico let out an embarrassingly high-pitched giggle. “Copulate?”

“Uhhh… yeah. He’s not the best with social interaction, but I love him anyway.”

Nico smiled, squeezing Thomas’s hands. They sat in silence for a few moments, before Nico had a realization.

“You’re not haunted!”

Thomas looked at him like he had grown two extra heads, a spare foot, and half an arm. “What?”

“Well, I kept seeing things in mirrors and reflections. And then there were floating things that just… disappeared, or things that moved by themselves. Or sometimes I’d hear you shushing people or talking to someone in the bathroom, or your hair and clothes would move when there wasn’t a breeze.”

Thomas’s eyes widened, before he threw his head back to laugh. “Oh, that’s _hilarious,”_ he said. “I never thought about that, _gosh_!”

Nico found himself unable to stop the grin spreading across his face at Thomas’s laugh.

“Really, though,” Thomas said once he had calmed down a little. “Thank you for… being so okay with the whole thing.”

“Of course,” Nico said, leaning forward just a little to get his point across. “I don’t care.”

“It’s just- I’ve thought through a lot of different scenarios, and none of them turn out very well, and it was… honestly really nice to have someone respond positively to the sides.”

“Sides?”

“Oh, it’s – it’s what we call them. They’re sides of my personality. Sanders Sides?”

Nico gave a little giggle. “That’s clever,” he said.

Thomas perked up, with a tiny, hopeful smile on his face. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Nico squeezed his hand. “I like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also on tumblr @anxious-logic where you can join me in squealing about the new episode!
> 
> Leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed this?


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